


Aftermath

by appalyneinstitute1



Series: The Boys Who L’ved Universe [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, epilouge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:40:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27045886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/appalyneinstitute1/pseuds/appalyneinstitute1
Summary: After the war, Cedric finally has his boyfriend back! The two are now navigating life, grief, and the post war world together.
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Harry Potter, Cho Chang/Hermione Granger, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: The Boys Who L’ved Universe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756294
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Heading Home

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Harry Potter, or its characters, JKR and others do. I make no money from this.
> 
> If you support JKR’s views on trans people you can stop reading this fic right now. Trans women are women trans men are men.
> 
> Black Lives Matter
> 
> Thank you for your time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back from the dead! (Just like Harry lol)
> 
> So here it is, we’re so close to the end. 😭 This fic should be 10 chapters or less. 
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

The three landed in the alleyway just next to the apartment. Cedric reached into his backpack and pulled out his key and they went inside.

They made it up to the apartment in silence. Cedric knocked, then unlocked the door. They found Lars asleep on the couch, but the unusual thing was the apartment looked like a bomb of baby stuff had gone off.

Draco went over to silently wake up Lars.

“So, this is it huh?” Harry asked looking around.

“Yup, home sweet home.” Cedric smiled, his brain was still getting used to the fact that Harry, was actually here to stay.

“I like it.”

“What? Who?” Draco had succeeded in waking Lars, “Draco? Ced? You’re home? What happened, did you win?”

“Yep.” Cedric smiled like an idiot.

“Good. When Tonks ran out of here last night I knew something big was happening, she hadn’t left the house since Teddy was born.” Lars said, seemingly not noticing Harry.

“Who’s Teddy?” Cedric asked.

“Oh, right, er, well he’s Tonks and I’s son. He’s only a few weeks old.”

“Wait, I didn’t know you two were a thing.” Cedric said.

“You wouldn’t have noticed we got together last June. You weren’t exactly in a healthy place.” Lars had stood up and was starting to bring empty bottles to the kitchen.

“Here, let me help.” Said Harry.

“Wait, you’re, you’re Harry Potter.” Lars said, shocked.

Harry let him stare for a few seconds, he had to get used to it again.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

“That’s a long story.” Harry said, “Nice to meet you.” Harry held out his hand.

“You too.”Lars took Harry’s hand and shook it.

“So all strange explanations of the past few months aside, I’m tired and I need a real shower.” Cedric said, in an attempt to change the subject, he turned to Harry, “Our room’s down the hall on the left, you’ll need to vanish the glamour of the linen closet in order to get in. Everything’s shrunken down in the closet, there should be some extra towels and clothes you can use for now.”

And with that Cedric headed off to take his shower.

“Right, er where’s Tonks? Is she helping out the aurors or something.” Lars asked.

“You might need to sit down.” Draco said, guiding Lars over to the couch “I don’t really know how to say this, but Tonks is dead.”

“What?” Lars blanched.

“I’m not sure what happened to her, Cedric and I weren’t within the main fight until later on, but I saw her in the Great Hall amongst the dead. I’m sorry.”

Harry took this as his cue to go investigate the bedroom situation.

He opened the door and sure enough, there was a well stocked linen closet. He took some of the towels off the shelf and waved his wand, banishing the spell that messed with the door.

He stepped into the room, there was a twin bed in the corner, with plain sheets and a gray comforter. A dresser stood on the wall with the door and there was a closet off to the left. A bookshelf was on the wall opposite the closet. The room had been painted the same tan-yellow color as the rest of the apartment. There were some nails on one of the walls, above the dresser, where something might have hung, and a mirror on the back of the door.

He opened the closet and found Cedric’s trunk he pulled it out and started to unpack it’s contents. It was mostly old school books, clothes, and some smaller knick knacks. He put the little figurines and ink pots and quills on the dresser, then stacked the books on the shelf. There were some old school robes and a pair or two of dress robes that Harry hung in the closet, along with the casual robes. The Muggle clothes went into the dresser.

A quick extension charm on the bed and the room was mostly done.

There were two other things in the trunk, a painting of a pair of owls, and a masterpiece that was modeled after a picture Harry hadn’t seen in a long time. He hung them on the nails on the wall above the dresser and put the trunk at the foot of the bed.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“Hi.” Malfoy came in awkwardly.

“Hey, Malfoy. Is Lars okay?”

“He will be, I think. He’s checking in on Teddy right now. I just wanted to say sorry for all the shit I put you through back in school. I just—”

“Save it, I forgive you. I get it. You had a shitty dad, and were raised in his image. I was pretty bad too.”

“Thanks. I’ll just be going now, you can have the shower next.”

“Oh, okay.”

Malfoy turned and left.

It was strange, not think of Malfoy with hatred, but rather friendship. Harry dug through the drawers and found a pair of comfortable pants and an over large shirt.

Cedric came into the room wearing a pair of pajamas a few moments later, “Shower’s all yours.”

After his shower Harry stood and looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. Sure he and his dad looked quite alike but there were some differences that were quite obvious to Harry. His eyes were the wrong color and the scar was no longer on his forehead for one thing. There was also a difference in his nose, it was a slightly different shape. He was also most certainly a good five inches taller than normal.

The only other odd thing was that there was a scar across his chest. The same one that had been his dad’s death marker back on the other side.

“Har? You okay in there?” Cedric knocked.

“Er, yeah. I’m okay.” Harry said.

Cedric must have heard the uncertainty in his voice because he then asked, “Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

Cedric entered the room and closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“I look different. I really just don’t feel like myself.”

“Is that all? Cause we can fix that. I know some permanent transfiguration spells to change your eyes and whatever else.”

“Thanks. I think I also want my scar back. It was the only thing I liked about how I looked as a kid, mostly cause my aunt and uncle hated it, but, yeah.”

“I can do that. Just give me a second.” Cedric left the room and came back with a clipping from an old newspaper, “Here we go.” Cedric showed him the picture from when they were outed in the newspaper.

“You kept this?”

“Uh, yeah. Lars had a pile of old papers when I got here, he likes to wait for the magic to fade and gives them to the community center for the kids art classes. I ended up keeping the clipping.”

Harry smiled.

“Now just relax, and let me work. If you move I could hurt you.”

Cedric started to say a few spells and Harry felt a tingling on his forehead. A few minutes later something shifted in his eyes.

Cedric stepped back and took a look, then with one more spell, Harry felt something like a pinch in his nose and Cedric declared himself done.

“What do you think?” Cedric asked.

Harry turned around and looked in the mirror above the sink, his face wasn’t perfectly normal, but it did feel more recognizable than it had, “It’s great.”

“There’s one more thing that I want to do, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh?”

“Your back, I want to put a mark there where the curse got you last time. I just think it’s important if you’d rather not...”

“Go ahead. I forgot that that had been there. I had a mark like that over there.” Harry glanced up.

Cedric nodded and got to work again.

A few minutes later Cedric was done and pulling him into a kiss, “You know you’re amazing right? I don’t really care if you look the same as you did before.”

“Yeah, I know, I just didn’t like seeing a different reflection.”

“It’ll be fine, you’ll see. We all have new things to adapt to now.”

“I guess so.” Harry said moving to tug on the shirt he had picked out.

“Now, I’ve been up for nearly twenty four hours straight, so let’s get out of here and get some sleep.”

Harry nodded and they exited the room. Draco was waiting in the hall for his turn.

“There’s the scarhead I remember.” He said, it felt strange to hear the nickname without any animosity tied to it.

“Shut it.” Harry rolled his eyes and smiled.

He and Cedric climbed in bed and fell asleep rather quickly afterwords.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos to feed my soul!!!!


	2. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so a bit of a plot bunny in this chapter, one that will be resolved within the first half of the next chapter, the other in the second half. 
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

Harry woke up later that morning and found that Cedric was still asleep, effectively trapping him against the wall.

Harry allowed himself to take a moment to breathe. It felt like he hadn’t truly relaxed for a long time. That was probably true too. For the first time ever there were no expectations for the day, no homework to do or classes to teach, no Dursleys breathing down his neck, no evil wizards trying to kill him, and nothing to spend time obsessively researching.

It was minutes later that the sound of a crying baby came through the door. Cedric woke with a start. “What’s going on?”

“Sounds like baby Teddy’s crying.” Harry said pulling his boyfriend in closer.

“Oh.” Cedric was breathing heavy, he looked panicky.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked

“Nothing.” Cedric said, clearly lying, but Harry decided to ignore it for the time being. “It seems to be about noon, what do you wanna do with the rest of the day?”

“Not much, I think I just want to go out, see the sights and such, I guess. I do need new clothes. We aren’t expected to see Remus and Sirius until tomorrow, but I want to visit Hermione, I think she’d be interested in some of the research I’ve done.”

“That sounds good. I’m a bit interested in the research myself.”

“I think I also wanna visit Godric’s Hollow.”

Cedric blanched.

“Not today necessarily, but soon. The only real memory I have of there is from last night.”

“You’ve never gone there? But wouldn’t your aunt want to see her sister’s grave?”

“Petunia would never.” Harry scoffed “She might have attended the funeral, but she’d never admit to it.”

“We can go later this week if you want.”

“Thank you.”

“We should get out of here before we waste the afternoon away in bed.”

The two lazily got out of bed, and went to the living room. Draco was doing something in the kitchen and Lars was nowhere to be seen. The couch looked like it had been slept on.

“Hey lovebirds.” Called Draco, his back still turned, “Any plans for the day?”

“We’re gonna go see Hermione.” Harry said, “And do some shopping.”

“Can I come along? I need robes that don’t feel tainted with dark magic.”

“Sure.” Harry said just as Lars walked in, a now calmed Teddy in his arms.

“Where are you going?”

“We’re gonna go out and do some shopping wanna come?” Draco said.

“No, I wanna stay with Teddy today. Andromeda was going to babysit today, so I won’t be alone. She should be over soon.” Lars looked like he hadn’t slept since they had arrived in the wee hours of the morning.

“I’ve got a call to make, just give me a moment, then we can head out.” Cedric headed out of the room, to the hall phone.

“Can one of you put him in his bouncer? I’m gonna go shower.” Lars said.

Draco nodded and took the baby from his brother’s arms.

Once Teddy was nestled in the bouncer Draco sat on the couch and watched his nephew contentedly. There was a knock at the door and Harry answered it.

“Hello.” he smiled at the dark haired woman, she looked as though she had been crying for some time.

“Oh, uh, I must have the wrong number again, I’m looking for Lawrence Malcolm?”

“Nope, you’re in the right place, he’s just in the shower. Come on in.”

She looked relieved, after studying him for a few seconds she asked, “Aren’t you Harry Potter?”

Harry suppressed a sigh, “Yes.”

“I’m honored to meet you.”

“Same here.”

She headed over to her grandson and started making little babbling noises at him. Harry smiled, the kid was super cute and he seemed to have inherited his mother’s metamorphmagus ability, his small amount of hair going from a purple to a black with a wave that matched Andromeda’s.

Cedric came back into the room and said “Shall we go?”

Harry nodded and took his hand.

“Should we be leaving the two people neck deep in grief alone with a baby?” Draco whispered.

“Don’t worry I called in some reinforcements that should be here in about fifteen minutes.” Cedric said, “I think that they might actually talk to about their grief with her, it’s only day one for them, but having someone who understands around might at least keep them going enough to care for Teddy. Besides, tomorrow we’ll be here to help.”

Draco made a noise that seemed to be agreement and they left the apartment.

“We should hit Diagon first, get some robes, and then head to the Muggle stores, people will be out partying later on if we go to Diagon later.” Draco said once they were on the street.

“Sounds good.”

They enjoyed the walk to the Leaky Cauldron, when they entered the building applause broke out. It seemed celebrating had started early.Harry sighed as people came up to him to pester him about everything that had happened. _This is just like the first time I ever set foot in here._ He thought.

_Really?_ A thought popped into his mind, it sounded like Cedric.

Harry turned to him and stared. He found Cedric staring back. _What the hell just happened?_ They thought in unison.

Cedric shrugged and continued to push his way to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

It was much less crowded on the street, however, there was much more destruction.

They kept their heads down to avoid attention from any other crazy fans and at last ended up in the, luckily, minimally damaged and still open Madam Malkin’s.

“Hello!” Called Madam Malkin, “I really wasn’t expecting anyone today, but I stayed open just in case, knew it would pay off. Oh!”

She had rounded the corner of the shop and was now in sight, “Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Diggory, and if the rumors are to be believed, Mr. Potter? How may I assist you?”

“I need a new wardrobe.” Harry said.

“I could also use some less dark and creepy additions to mine.” Draco said, “Put it all on my trust fund tab. As I’m sure that the Ministry has already seized the other vaults.”

“Even Mr. Potter’s?”

“Yes. I owe him that at least since I basically insulted him the last time both of us were here.”

“Ok.”

She got to work on measurements and colors, and after a little over and hour she declared them done, and told them to come back in a week to pick up the new robes.

“Should we just apparate somewhere near the Muggle store? Avoid the crazed Wizard crowds?” Cedric suggested.

Harry nodded.

With a crack they were outside a department store. “Where are we?” Asked Draco, clearly realizing they weren’t in London anymore.

“Not quite sure, this is where Dad took me to get some Muggle clothes before the World Cup though. I came back here that next summer once I had started living in the Muggle world.”

“Helpful.” Draco said as he started to walk towards the door.

They spent the next two hours picking and choosing clothes for Harry and Draco, Cedric picked up a few things as well.

Harry was over in the shoes section trying to find a couple of good pairs when he bumped into someone.

“Sorry.” She said, her voice very familiar.

Harry whipped around, he thought he’d never have to hear that voice again, “Petunia?”

She turned around and stared, horrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments to feed my soul!


	3. Dursleys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! I decided it would feel stronger this way. Hopefully the next one will be out soon.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie

“Petunia?”

Harry watched as his aunt turned around, “You! You’re supposed to be dead!” She seemed more afraid rather than angry.

Harry just stared at her, frozen, after all these years what would he say to her? To someone who had hurt him so badly his parents had signed him up for afterlife therapy.

“Hey Har? What do you think of these boots?” Cedric was walking over with a pair of black lace up boots in his hands, he saw Harry’s blanched face and looked over at Petunia _Who is she? Where have I seen her before?_ Cedric’s thought raced through his mind.

“Cedric, this is my aunt Petunia. Petunia, this is my boyfriend, Cedric.” Harry managed to speak.

“I believe we’ve met.” Petunia said, still sounding off put, but no hatred came in her voice.

“We should get going now.” Cedric said moving to lead Harry away, he ended up running smack into a large blonde teen.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

“Dudley, did you find something?” Petunia asked.

“Yes.” He smiled, then he noticed Harry, who was now a good few inches taller than him, “Harry?” He said, very neutrally.

“Yes.”

“I- er, good to see you.”

“How long are you here?” Petunia was asking him.

“Just for the afternoon.”

“Ok. Then I guess I’ll tell you now. Vernon and I have gotten a divorce. When you died, or at least when we were told you did, he somehow got worse. Especially to Dud. Eventually I was fed up, I took Dudley and left. I’ve only really spoken to him through lawyers since. I wish I had done it sooner, maybe saved you some of that hurt. Though I know I played my part and I’m sorry.”

Harry blinked, that was, unexpected. He didn’t say anything he just nodded, she might have apologized, but she wasn’t getting any forgiveness from him.

Dudley started in, “I was in a pretty dark state over those next few months, after you died, the school had me on a diet, and I was dealing with the fact that someone I had hurt so bad, someone my age, had died. I know this won’t mean much and after today we’ll probably never speak again, but I’d like to say I’m sorry.”

Harry just nodded again.

“I think we best collect Draco and get to checkout. Lars will be wondering where we are.” Cedric said, going to guide Harry away.

“Goodbye Petunia, Dudley.” Harry looked to each of them and turned around and didn’t look back.

“Let’s get you home huh?” Cedric said, wrapping his arm around Harry.

“What about Hermione?”

“She can wait until tomorrow, you look like you need a cup of tea and a nice soft blanket.”

“Ok.”


	4. Graveyards and nightmares and crushes oh my!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously at the end of Goblet of Fire: “Cedric hopped the fence and on the blank side facing the house he carved with his wand ‘Thanks for everything Harry, All my love, Ced.’”
> 
> So I’m not dead!!! I actually have been really busy, but hey, I got this chapter out!!

The next week or so was filled to the brim with many bittersweet reunions, the beginning of a long line of funerals, and the threads of a new government administration taking root. 

Andromeda came by nearly every day, as did Lars’ Nan. The two women were becoming fast friends, bonding over the loss of their husbands and the adorableness of Teddy. Hermione had given Hedwig back to Harry, so the apartment was feeling rather full with two owls, four young adults and a baby. 

Cedric and Harry had designated the day after Tonks’ funeral for their visit to Godric’s Hollow. 

They slept in and spent the day wandering around Diagon Alley helping to repair damages. As the sun began to set they finally apparated into the town. 

Holding hands, they made their way to the graveyard in silence. Cedric led the way through the rows of headstones to the gravesite of Lily and James. 

“Do you need a moment?” Cedric asked.

“I—” Harry paused taking the sight of the headstones, “Just a minute.”

Cedric nodded, “I’ll be over by that tree if you need me.” He stepped away.

“Hey mum and dad, it’s only been a week, well I suppose it’s been nearly a month for you, but I’m already missing you guys. It’s strange being back here. Good, but odd, I’m like four years older than my friends now, not that they seem to mind. Cedric has been amazing this week. Sirius and Remus are doing well. They plan to have another ceremony this summer.

“I ran into Petunia, she seems to hate me less, though I never want to see her again. I had also almost forgotten how bad the papers could be. There’s been an article about me every day since I came back. 

“I’m gonna start looking for a job at the end of the month, once the world has recovered from Voldemort a bit more. Professor McGonagall will probably be Headmistress at Hogwarts, if she doesn’t retire, maybe I can convince her to let me have the Defense job. Cedric and I are also thinking about looking for our own place. The Malfoy brothers are nice and all, but the apartment is a bit crowded. 

“If you see Fred or Dean or Seamus around, tell them I said hi. I miss you a lot, hope you’re doing well. I’ll try to come by again on Halloween. Love you.”

Harry conjured a crown of daisies, his mother’s favorite flower and placed it on her headstone. Then a bouquet of lilies, his father’s favorite, went at the base of his.

Harry wandered over to Cedric, who was leaning against a tree. 

He noticed Cedric’s eyes looked a bit pink with tears,  _You okay_? Harry asked, using the strange telepathy they still hadn’t really had a chance to talk about. 

Yeah, this place is just a lot for me. I’ve been only three times, but two of them felt like some of the darkest moments of my life. The first being your funeral, the second was just before last Christmas. At that point I had known for a while I had to let Voldemort kill me, and the others didn’t. It just wasn’t the best time.

Harry reached out and squeezed his hand. 

“Anywhere else we should go?”

“There’s the house, and the statue.”

Harry let Cedric lead him to the statue and then to the house. He showed him the message he had left on the back of the fence there. Harry smiled softly and carved in a response,  _ No, thank you, Love Harry. _

They swiftly apparated back home and fell into bed. 

It was the middle of the night when Harry was awoken by Cedric, talking in his sleep, “No... please... come back.” He murmured.

Harry wasn’t quite sure what to do. A few moments later Cedric woke with a start, shaking. 

He reached blindly over for Harry, who immediately wrapped him in a hug. “It’s okay Ced, I’m here.”

Cedric let out a breath, and seemed to melt into Harry. 

_ You wanna talk about it?  _ Harry used the strange telepathy again. They really should ask someone to help them figure out why it was there. 

“Not right now.” Cedric said into Harry’s shoulder. 

“Okay, whenever you’re ready.”

The next day they visited Sirius and Remus again. Everyone came over to spend the afternoon just relaxing at Grimmuald Place.  Well,  Malfoy was visiting his mother, who was on house arrest at one of the Malfoy properties that was not the manor. 

They had occupied their normal spots in the so called teen room. Well, those who had normal spots before the war did at least, the couple newcomers just fit themselves in wherever. Harry and Cedric on the couch, along with Hermione and Cho. Mark and Charlie sat on the loveseat, and Ron sat in a chair. Ginny and Luna, a blonde Ravenclaw Harry had just met a few days ago, were sprawled on the floor by the coffee table.

“Why am I the one who has to sit in the chair? It’s so far away from everyone.” Ron complained.

“You’re not in a relationship, therefore you get the place that only seats one.” Charlie teased. 

“It’s not my fault all my friends paired off without me.” 

“You could try dating outside the friend group.” Hermione suggested.

“No, all those girls are just in it to say they dated the guy who stabbed some Death Eaters with the sword of Gryffindor.”

Harry started laughing. “Finally! Someone else here gets it!”

“What?”

“The whole fame screws up the ability to make friends and get dates.”

“Oh, I forgot about that happening to you before.”

“Yeah, though you also were part of the problem for Krum and Fleur back in fourth year.”

“Wait what?”

“You practically drooled over both of them at meals.” Hermione added.

“I didn’t drool over Krum, I’m the token straight guy in this friend group.”

“Oh, come on Ron, I’ve known you since the day you were born, and I’m pretty sure you’re not as straight as you think.” Charlie said.

“Name one guy, other than Krum I’ve, what’d you say, ‘drooled over.’”

Hermione smiled, up for the challenge, “Well let’s see there was Oliver Wood, whenever we watched the Gryffindor team practice, Neville after he went through puberty, that one Muggle boy in the store when we went on a food run in March, Lockhart, though I suppose that one was less bad than me and stopped after our first class, Harry, oh and that one singer you really like, what’s his name?”

“Elmynolds Adamen.” Mark supplied.

“Ok I concede to some of those, I’m pretty sure everyone who liked guys had a crush on Wood, and Neville isn’t bad to look at either. That Muggle was hot and I had been trapped away from people for a while don’t blame me. The Lockhart thing was like for less than twenty four hours and Elmynolds and Krum are never gonna happen celebrity crushes. And Harry? Really?”

“You were a bit obvious now that I’m thinking of it.” Harry said.

“Okay so I’m bi, or something, I need to think about this a bit more, but that doesn’t help the whole not dating someone thing.”

“If you’re looking to date in the friend group, there’s always Draco.” Cedric suggested.

Ron’s ears went pink and his face bright red, “No way, not gonna happen. No way is my first kiss gonna be with the ferret.” Harry was still deciding whether or not to tease him about the blush when someone else spoke. 

“You could always kiss one of the other guys in this room to find out.” Luna suggested, twirling a piece of Ginny’s hair. 

“But they’re all dating someone, isn’t that cheating?”

“I wouldn’t care if you kissed Mark right now.” Charlie said. 

Ron rolled his eyes, “I’m not kissing my brother’s boyfriend.”

“Kiss Harry then.” Cedric said, Harry shot him a glare.

“Huh?” 

Harry thought for a moment then said, “It’s not a terrible idea.” 

“And you’re both okay with this?”

Harry shrugged, and Cedric said “I’m not too worried, he did literally go to hell and back for me.”

“It wasn’t hell.” Harry said.

“Doesn’t make much difference to those who haven’t seen the other side.”

Harry sighed, “Anyway, Ron are you up for this?”

“I think so.”

Harry stood up, and sauntered over to Ron’s chair, he leaned down, his hands resting on the arms of the chair, and gave Ron a slight smile. Ron swallowed, face flushing. Harry leaned in leaving a small gap between them. Ron closed it a second later. Harry let the kiss go on for seven seconds, then he pulled away. 

“That was...” Ron trailed off, a bit dazed, “Definitely like guys.” He muttered.

“Glad I could help.” Harry smiled, he made his way over to Cedric, sat down and pulled his boyfriend into his lap.

_ Sorry for putting you on the spot.  _ Came Cedric’s voice in his head.

_ You don’t have to apologize.  _

_Who’s the better kisser, me or him?_ He sounded playful rather than jealous.

_ You, duh.  _

_ Good.  _ Cedric planted a kiss on Harry’s cheek.

“You guys are sickening.” Ginny said, pulling the two from their conversation, “Staring into each other’s eyes all stupid like that. Cedric looked like he was about to pounce on you.”

“Shut up, it was just some telepathy thing.” Harry said.

“Huh?” Cho asked turning to them.

“Well ever since I got back, Cedric and I have kind of been able to communicate via telepathy, or something. At first it was some emotionally charged thoughts” Harry noticed the looks he got, “Not like  that,  like when Cedric and I met my aunt in the store last week. We’ve figured out how to use it now for whatever we want though.”

“You said that your souls bonded together for a while right?” Hermione said, Harry could practically hear her wheels turning. 

He nodded.

“When you and then Ced had Voldemort’s horcrux in you could tell what he felt sometimes, or see him in your dreams right?” She asked.

“Yup, we also got each other’s dreams or sometimes even just could see through each other’s eyes during the day occasionally.” Harry said.

“So I think this is an extension of that. The magical parts of your souls bonded and when you made Harry whole again, the connection found a new way to work. There aren’t enough readings on horcruxes for me to be sure, and certainly not enough on people who have healed their soul after making one, though your case is a bit different, for me to be one hundred percent sure though.”

“That sounds right.” Harry said, “I really didn’t think that much about what would happen after I came back, I mean other than killing Voldemort. Anyway, it seems like a pretty harmless side effect.”

“It’s kinda nice actually.” Cedric said.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, then Mark pulled out a game of Exploding Snap and they sat down in teams, Ron once again being alone, to play. 

Malfoy came in a few moments later, “Hi.” He said, “Mind if I join?”

“Nope, Ron needs a partner.” Mark said.

“You gonna be okay with that Weasel?”

“Er... I... Sure.” Ron stammered.

_ I’m pretty sure he is more than okay with that.  _ Harry sent the thought to Cedric.

_ Focus on the game, not setting up you best friend and former enemy. _

Later that night Harry and Cedric sat in bed, leaning against the wall with their feet dangling off the side. 

“So, your dreams.” Harry said.

“Yeah. I keep going back to that night, when you died.”

“I know. I saw your dreams when I was in the afterlife sometimes.”

“I was really messed up after, still am. I’m probably gonna find a mind healer or something soon. It’s always the same thing over and over. Last night, I half expected not to find you there.”

“Okay, what can I do to help in the meantime while you find a good mind healer?”

“I guess, when I wake up, just be there. I liked the hugging.”

“Okay, I can most certainly do that darling.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you, so much.”

“Love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I almost wanted to post the last line of this chapter as “[Spanish dubbed]” because its 2020 and tumblr is a hellsite. (I have never actually watched supernatural so don’t go trying to actually talk about it to me, sorry!)
> 
> Also please note that the side ships in this fic aren’t necessarily my top ships. They’re good for me here because they fit the story really well, not much else. So like I don’t ship RonxDraco, but Tay (my amazing beta) and I thought it would work, specifically because of how I’ve handled both of their characters. ChoxHermione I ship more, but just don’t have strong ship opinions for Hermione.
> 
> XOXO  
> —Appie


	5. Moving on

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo Hoo!!! Another chapter!
> 
> Sorry if the formatting seems odd. I typed in a different word processor than normal.
> 
> XOXO  
> \--Appie

June passed swiftly, with it came visits to Gringotts. Harry had wanted to see some of the properties his father had mentioned he had inherited. There were also He also had to reinstate his own vault. It still was there, mostly untouched, but they had to change the ownership from a spilt between the Weasleys and Cedric back to himself, though he made sure the Weasleys kept some of what he had left them. Cedric hadn't wanted to keep the money, he did have his own vault that he claimed was quite well off. Harry left the Hogwarts summer scholarship fund open though, he could afford it. 

He and Cedric had also moved into a newly available apartment in the same building. It was a floor below Lars, and laid out the same, minus the magically expanded into a bedroom linen closet. Lars seemed grateful to finally be able to create a real nursery for Teddy, though Andromeda helped a lot. 

They had also had both started seeing their own mind healers. Harry had seen improvement in Cedric's demeanor. Harry had also noticed himself feeling more like he belonged too, he hadn't really gotten into the stuff about his childhood quite yet with Healer Terry, though he knew he probably would soon enough. 

As July rolled around Death Eater trials began. Most of the higher ranking and lower ranking ones had died, the higher ranking because they were targets and the lower raking because they had no idea what the were doing. The first trials were those of the Malfoys, Draco would be fine, though Harry had no idea about Narcissa or Lucius. Malfoy seemed to have mixed feelings about his father, but he wanted his mother free. 

Cedric was a bit of a wreck. His mother was the third trial up, and he was set to testify. Harry had no idea what Cedric was gonna say, on the one hand Harry knew Cedric hated his mother and didn't trust her whatsoever; however, she had saved them. Harry did his best to just be here for Cedric. 

The night before he had Harr read through his statement. He had been prepared for most of the common questions, like 'Describe your relationship with your mother' (Not very good as of the past few years.) or 'D you believe your mother was imperiused into working for Voldemort?' (No.)

There was also a statement he had made about her saving them, and how Cedric just saw her as doing that to pick the winning side. 

When Cedric got home from the trial Harry handed him a letter that had arrived soon after he had left. It was from Cedric's father. 

"Can you read it to me?" Cedric asked. 

Harry nodded and began to read " _Dear Cedric, I'm very glad that you and your boyfriend have defeated You-know-who. I have no idea how to properly apologize for the actions of your mother and I these past two years, that's part of the reason this letter is taking so long to reach you. But please know Cedric, that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let your mother kick you out like that, I wish I could have been there for you after the tournament. If you hate me I totally understand, and even if you don't, I don't expect your forgiveness, though I hope t earn it eventually. I know that you're probably going to testify against your mother today, or already have by the time you get this, and I understand, some of the things she's done are unforgiveable. As soon as the Ministry has finished putting itself back together I'm filing for a divorce. I'd like to meet with you soon if you're willing. Send me an owl sometime. Signed, Dad_."

"Hmm."

"It sounded pretty genuine."

"It certainly did. I'm not sure about meeting him though."

"Take your time, it sounds like even if he heard from you three years from now he would probably still respond."

"Yeah." Cedric said, "You ready for your interview tomorrow?"

"I think so. It'll be nice to really get a look at the progress on the reconstruction of the castle without being there to work on it. Of course all of this hinges on me passing an NEWT next week."

"You'll do fine on the NEWT, it's just for the qualification."

"Right, well, I should study a bit before we head to the Burrow." Harry said, turning to the room hey had designated an office.

He felt pretty confident on the chapter he was studying by the time they left for dinner that night. He just hoped his interview for the Defense Against the Dark Arts position went well.


End file.
